Bouncing Back from Adversity

Unexpected disasters can strike at any moment, disrupting your business operations and causing significant financial losses. At Prosperity Pathways, we offer practical guidance on how to plan your recovery, reshape your business strategy, and access other valuable resources to help your small business overcome adversity.

Charting Your Road to Recovery

• To recover from a disaster, effective planning is crucial. Creating a continuity plan can help your business mitigate the impact of a crisis and minimize financial losses. Your business continuity plan should:
• Identify and document essential business functions and processes.
• Establish a team responsible for ensuring continuity of operations.
• Evaluate various recovery strategies.

Visit ready.gov for assistance in creating a continuity plan that fits your specific business needs.

Innovating for the Future

As the business landscape rapidly evolves, companies must learn to adapt to changing circumstances in order to survive. At Visionary Ventures, we can help you develop a comprehensive change plan tailored to your business goals and unique situation. Start by following these three steps:

• Identify opportunities: Analyze shifting consumer behavior and market trends to uncover new opportunities for innovation and growth. Assess how the pandemic has changed your customers’ needs and preferences, and adapt accordingly.
• Streamline operations: Evaluate your business operations to identify areas where you can work more efficiently and effectively. Review your finances and both short- and long-term objectives to make strategic changes.
• Negotiate: Seek ways to reduce your overhead expenses, renegotiate leases and contracts, and explore new avenues for future business. 

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) network has developed a business resiliency plan template that may help guide you through the process.

Resources to Support Small Business Growth

• Don’t navigate the complexities of business alone. The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides free, personalized advice to entrepreneurs who want to succeed. SBDC-certified counselors can guide you through your options, helping you make confident decisions about the future of your business. Locate your nearest SBDC to get started.
• The SCORE Mentor Network offers resilience training for small businesses affected by COVID-19 or any other disaster. The resources include a Spanish-language guide.

Learning from a Distance

Business training and guidance are critical to overcoming disasters and developing growth strategies. Here are some English-language resources to get you started:

• The U.S. SBDCs provide online learning opportunities that are tailored to your state.
• Ask for a mentor and schedule a virtual session through the SCORE mentor network to gain access to experienced experts who can advise you on adapting to market changes and developing new business models.
• The Association of Women-Owned Business Centers offers courses on e-commerce and other topics.
• Improve your resilience to crises and find ways to improve your cash flow in the short and long term with these crisis management resources and webinars.

Build Your Digital Brand and Increase Online Sales

• The SCORE Mentor Network has compiled these 12 Online Sales Tips for Beginners.
• The Department of Commerce provides online resources and strategies to help you navigate growing your business through e-commerce.
• The Minority Business and Technology Initiative provides resources to accelerate the inclusion of minority-owned businesses in e-commerce and to improve the use of digital technology for domestic and global sales.

Strengthen Your Supply Chain

Reduce supply chain disruptions during disasters and find alternative sources to meet customer demands:

• Protect your business information and communication technology with these supply chain management risk reduction resources, developed by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), which can guard against attacks on the supply chain.
• Check out the New Hampshire SBDC’s Guide to Managing Your Supply Chain During a Crisis.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers a guide to Supply Chain Resiliency that explains how supply chains work and how to reduce disruptions during emergencies.
• Evaluate your supply chain with a list of questions from the Virginia SBDC.
• Learn about Understanding and Reducing Risk to your Remote Supply Chain through an online seminar from the SBDC in the Lynchburg area.